ARROW: HAPPY NEW YEAR- a Justice League prequel
by MegaSam777
Summary: On the eve of his first anniversary as hero of Star City, Oliver Queen, who moonlights as a vigilante known as the Arrow faces a new threat that will challenge him further than any other enemy in the city he protects. With two loyal partners by his side, Oliver will have to use wits, strength, and courage to save the citizens from a villain's deadly revenge scheme.
1. INTRODUCTION

**COMING MARCH 2015**

Perhaps I'm throwing myself into a deep pit (or a deserted island for this particular occasion), but ideas are just BURSTING out of my head and I'm constantly thinking up new adventures and stories that continue to branch out this DC Universe that I'm creating. This story will be based on the Green Arrow character featured in the CW series, Arrow. I like the show a lot. Sure, the acting can be stiff sometimes and the stand-alone stories aren't always the most thrilling but I think they provide a very good hour of escapism along with the Flash and Gotham. (I for one am just happy I get to watch THREE DC shows a week.) That portrayal of Green Arrow by Stephen Amell is done very well, I think. That's who you can picture as being my Arrow in the JUSTICE UNIVERSE. (BTW, the category is for the TV show version but this is not related. I only selected that category to include characters from the show in this story).

In my universe, Ollie was on the island for a little over five years. As some of you may know... Ollie was still a rich and obnoxious A-hole during the events of DARK KNIGHT: FROZEN ENIGMAS and the Queen's Gambit had not yet gone on its final voyage. So, this story will be taking a huge time jump of six years into the future of the JU (Justice Universe). I will be giving _small little teases_ that give a good idea of what is to come. I won't spoil anything big like how the next two volumes of the DARK KNIGHT series play out or the ending of JUSTICE: Heroes United. But, you will see how the world forged by the events of the Justice League's debut influences the rest of the world and the origin of Green Arrow. Speaking of that, he will identify as the Arrow and Arrow alone. In this story, Ollie has been Star City's hero for exactly a year. This story plays over the night of his first arrival and he meets some interesting characters along the way.

Lian Yu is the deserted island featured in the flashbacks of this adventure and everything that happened to Ollie while on the island is pretty true to the show. He killed people, met mentors, and of course, became a very stoic man in place of the ungrateful brat he once was. Because I love them so much, John Diggle and Felicity Smoak will be shown in this story and guide Ollie as he fights crime.

For those few of you who have literally been with me since the inception of these stories, I introduced Aquaman in the first stand-alone JUSTICE story back in 2013. It took a year and a half for Aquaman to show up again. Unless I start churning out a story a month, don't expect the Emerald Archer to return and meet the other heroes until next spring (maybe). *cue sadness...*

But don't worry, after the first JUSTICE adventure is completed, which I estimate will be the end of March; I expect the stories to start being published faster as my outlines for Volumes 4-10 are planned out. Yes, you read that right, 6 more volumes to the DARK KNIGHT story and four more JUSTICE stories before I can finally quit. I feel as if my magnum opus needs to be completed. I literally have to do this because I feel this epic story needs to be told because I want to inspire others and let them see how great superheroes are and that these 'silly comic stories' can make you think and keep you up at night.

* * *

**So... story updates...**

SUICIDE SQUAD is actually moving along very well. I'm just waiting for half of the story to be written before publishing more chapters. There will be an update very soon. At least before the actual movie comes out, haha.

SPIDER-MAN: Web of Secrets is on the same pace. This story is structured and plotted a bit different than the JUSTICE UNIVERSE so it takes a little more brainstorming to figure out the plot. But no worries, updates will be arriving soon and it will blow your guys' expectations out of the water (I hope so anyway...).

DARK KNIGHT 4 is in the process of being finalized. I'm going back and forth over the story to make sure when I start typing on here, the words will flow and it won't take as long as FROZEN ENIGMAS. That volume was a nightmare, personally. I started in March of 2014 and it took me 8 months to finish for absolutely no reason. Ugh. That will NEVER happen again. I now know that I have to be well-planned and have a clear vision.

* * *

That's it for now, folks. Keep reading, reviewing, favoriting, sharing, and any other verb that ends in 'ing' that relates to me. I feel that within the last month even, my fanbase has grown and you guys don't know what that means to me. I remember being so proud of having 100 views on my first story... and now... that story has been viewed over 20,000 time and I couldn't be happier. Thank you guys, all of you. It really has kept me going.

Keep looking forward to more exciting stories!

**-MS777**


	2. Beautiful Slums

***Just in case you didn't know, my version of Star City is Miami which means Miami doesn't exist in this universe in the same way that Gotham replaces New York City and the state of New York. Star City is a cesspool of violence and disparity, much like Gotham but only with a little more hope clinging to it. Most of the crime is centered in a region of the city much like some sections of Detroit where the buildings are decaying and crime is so rampant that some of the cops don't even venture inside. Arrow is a legend to the helpless and needy. He's rarely ever seen, there's only been one picture taken, and the SCPD are only starting to really focus on the hooded vigilante. **

**Also... this version of the character is based on the CW series, Arrow because his character development has been fleshed out very well in the 60+ episodes and I think the show has done the DC Universe justice in properly portraying a Batman-like character on TV.**

* * *

Star City was stuck in a perpetual state of stagnant progression. Rain was a common occurrence in the humid, Floridian air; never washing away the darkness that was molded into every crevasse. Only spreading it further. On the night of his patrol, the hooded man wiped sweat off his forehead and flipped his head to the sky, letting the rain wipe away his sweat and breathing in the toxin that was Star City. This was his city. Broken and beaten, but not defeated. He was chosen to save this city and bring it back to its former glory. Thunder rolled high in the brown clouds that hung over the city and he turned his eyes to the east, seeing the massive hurricane heading toward the mainland. He heard a small beep inside his ear and clicked the button on the small earpiece and hearing a small amount of static before speaking.

"Any problems?" he spoke.

His voice was distorted, caused by a small speaker in the middle of his outfit. He was dressed in a dark green leather suit that covered his entire body except for his head. Across his back hung a long bow made of the strongest yet most flexible wood on the planet. A large quiver of arrows was slung over his right shoulder, held securely by hidden straps that weaved throughout the outfit. He heard the thunder vibrate strongly through the stone roof he was standing on and the voice on the other end responded.

"We've got a apartment fire on Straton in the Reiman Complex. Right across from the gas station. People are still trapped inside the building." the female voice said.

"Got it." the hooded man said.

The man looked out at the rest of the rooftop ahead of him and prepared for a long sprint. He flicked sweat from his brow, taking one last look at the clear sky, the moon shining bright. The black war paint smeared across his eyes caused a 3-D illusion that changed the shape and color of his eyes, concealing his identity from anyone lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him. He began to run, gravel kicking up behind him as his tactical boots stomped into the rocks, traction building up and gravity making him a force to be reckoned with. He took deep breaths with each run, assuring he wouldn't tire soon before he took his leap. He eyed the large water tower fifteen feet below as he approached the edge of the roof and leaped off of it, executing a graceful front-flip as his feet became outstretched as he fell through the air. With another deep breath, he flattened his body and collided with the tower's metal siding. He pushed off of the tower, not leaving a scratch as he caught the opposite side of the roof, scraping the brick wall with his gloves as he hit the concrete and slid to a stop.

He didn't look back, continuing his expertise skills of free-running across the various heights of buildings in the beautiful slums of lower Star City. As he jumped from a low roof and onto a lightpole, he saw smoke billowing from a few streets up and knew he had found his house fire. He slid down the lightpole, scaring an old couple hurrying to get to safety, two bags of groceries in each of the husband's hands. The woman shrieked briefly and the man stood in front of her, watching as the hooded man turned to them and nodded peacefully. The man stood still and gave the strange archer a salute as he ran off into the alley across the street.

* * *

The propane tank had finally given out inside the Sullivan's apartment and 13-year Joey ducked down farther, his right leg pinned underneath the fallen bookcase. He watched as he mother picked up his sister and saw him through the black smoke that shot out of the open patio window. She walked over to him, avoiding the fiery chunks of their stove that had flown across the kitchen door and into the living room. His three-year old sister cried in fear, her small hands reaching out for her brother as he tried to lift the heavy bookcase off of his back. His mother bent down, trying to lift off the case and taking a few deep breaths before trying again.

"No! Stop! You can't breathe it in anymore! It'll kill you!" Joey screamed at his mother who already was showing signs of exhaustion and nausea.

The mother continued despite his warnings, using all of her strength while Joey hit her arms. He turned his attention to his sister who was now laying on her chest, her face covered by her arms. Joey tried to push himself up from the floor, his mother in a state of insanity from the chaos. He looked to his left, seeing the drapes beside the kitchen window erupt into flames and catch flames onto the cereal boxes and rolls of paper towels, increasing the inferno's blaze. He screamed in anger, feeling the smoke fill his lungs and make him become dizzy as well. He looked at his mother, seeing her crawling on the floor, crying as she tried to pick up the limp body of her daughter. Joey felt the strength leave his body and collapsed onto the carpet, feeling the intense heat and fire about to reach him. His vision became blurry and spotty as the roars of the fire didn't phase him anymore. He closed his eyes and tried to accept his fate as the T.V. screen exploded and sparks showered the carpet, small tuffs suddenly catching fire alongside everything else.

In what felt like a few seconds, he heard wood breaking apart and the sounds of someone breathing heavily. He was too tired to open his eyes but heard wood snapping apart and glass shatter all around him. He found the strength to flick his eyes open to look at his sister and saw that she was gone. He turned his head to the left and saw that his mother was gone as well. He shifted his body to the left in a state of panic, sharp pains entering through his trapped leg as he looked at the patio door that had been shattered completely. He saw a hooded figure placing his family outside, their heads placed through the railing to give them the freshest air possible. He was confused and tried to call out for the hooded man but the smoke in his lungs filled him with too much pain to plead. He held one of his arms up and watched as the hooded figure spotted him and bent down beside him, easily lifting the bookcase up from his leg and dragging him out. He placed his gas mask over his nose and mouth, picking him up and hoisting him over his shoulder as they ran to the patio.

Joey was placed against the side of the railing, hearing his small sister cough loudly and hold onto to the railing. Joey looked up with his blurry eyes and saw the dark green figure against the orange glow of the fire that had consumed their apartment. He watched as the hooded man bent down beside him and patted his shoulders.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe fine now?" the man asked, his voice sounding much like a robot's.

Joey nodded and looked at the bow and quiver on his back.

"Is there anyone else inside your apartment?"

Joey shook his head and watched as the man stood up again and pulled out the bow and an arrow that had a shiny, silver tip. Joey backed up in fear as he thought the arrow was being aimed for his head and flinched when the archer let the arrow go. It whizzed above his head and he heard it hit something hard. He could now seeing that a cable was attached to the end of the arrow and the archer grabbed the other end, disconnecting it from the bow and slamming the other piece into the wall above the patio door.

"Can you carry her?" the archer asked, picking up his sister.

Joey nodded, standing up weakly and taking his coughing sister and holding her tight.

"Hold on tight, alright?" the archer said nicely, hoisting his mother over his right arm with ease as he flicked the bow into another shape, that of a long stick with a pulley system in the middle.

Joey grabbed onto the large man's chest and watched as the man jumped with all four of them attached to the cable onto the fencing two feet up. The archer bent his knees and leaped off from the railing, zooming twenty feet down from the patio until they landed softly onto the street, the large fire highlighting them. Joey let go of the archer and sat his mother on the bench beside of him. The archer carefully removed the mask from Joey's face and looked at him as folded it into the left side of his outfit. He held onto his sister as the archer looked at the fiery building and held his finger to the earpiece inside his hood.

"I got them out. Is the fire department en-route?" he asked.

"No." the woman on the other end replied with a sigh.

"What a surprise."

The archer looked around and could see the brown sky light up a deep purple when lightning struck close, the storm approaching quickly. He turned back to the dazed boy and held his shoulders again, trying to comfort him.

"Do you have somewhere you can stay? You can't stay out here." he said.

"Yes. My friend from school lives right down there!" Joey responded, pointing to the house a block down the street.

"Good. I'll take your mom there. But you need to get inside. The storm isn't going to be fun." he said, picking up the mother and running down the street, beginning to feel the rain get heavy and faster.

"Hey," Joey said, looking up at the heroic archer as they ran down the street quickly.

"Who are you?"

"Just someone who wants to help." the archer said.

"The Arrow." Joey said quietly with a smile.

"What?" the archer asked, turning to the small kid.

Joey just looked up at him and smiled.


	3. Vertigo

Felicity Smoak leaned over in her chair, trying to pinpoint the location of the 911 call. Inside the giant underground base of the green archer or Arrow, she was watching as the dispatch station kept getting calls from the same hotel. She took her glasses off and looked closer at the list of calls. There were six now, with more probably incoming. Her blonde ponytail flipped in the air as she slid the chair across the large circular desk and contacted the archer. She clicked the radio button and cleared her throat, taking one look back at the computer screen to her left.

"Oliver. You need to go to the Birmingham Hotel. We've got a serious problem." she said quickly.

A few seconds later, the Arrow answered, his voice sounding like a normal human's.

"What's the situation?" he asked.

"All of the windows on the first three floors were blown out from something inside and the guests can't get out through the front doors. I've followed six calls made to 911. Someone in there is holding them hostage."

"Got it. Update me if something else happens." Arrow said.

Felicity ended the call and flung herself back over to the computer screen. She saw two more calls coming in and listened in the Star City Dispatch Center.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"There's someone inside the Birmingham Lodge blowing people up! He's got some kind of sound... thing! His men won't let us out. We've already given them our wallets!" a woman screamed on the other line.

"Okay, calm down, ma'am. You're at the Birmingham Lodge, you said?" the dispatcher replied.

"Yes! Please send someone! He's going to kill us all!"

"Who is? I thought you said there were multiple men?"

"There's at least ten of them. The leader is wearing a cloak or something. He's telling us that we have to wait for the archer!"

"The archer?" the dispatcher asked, keys slamming in the background.

"Yes! That vigilante that took down that crew of robbers. He wants to meet him and-!" the woman said before a loud blast flew into the microphone and Felicity jumped in her seat. The call had ended. Felicity held her arms and began breathing heavily. Something serious was going on.

"Hey," a man said behind her.

Felicity squealed briefly and jumped in her seat, turning around to see one of her best friends and the other side of the archer's team. John Diggle held her shoulders and gave a small chuckle. He was a handsome man of 38, a large black man who had the look and respect one would expect from a soldier. His leather jacket was worn and covered with small scratches all over, the sleeves showing off the large muscles in his arms. Felicity sighed deeply and spun back around her chair, letting the 911 call play again.

Diggle listened intently and was surprised by the call. He looked at Felicity and saw her face. They had never faced anything like this before. In the nine months since Felicity had completed their trio of crimefighters, the three of them were used to the common street thug or drug dealer. But now, a terroristic man was calling for the archer. Only the two of them knew of his real identity. His name was Oliver Queen. A billionaire heir to Queen Industries, a massive producer of everything from military weapons to automobiles. When he was 24, his family took a vacation getaway trip to the South Pacific. While there, a hurricane struck and their infamous yacht, the Queen's Gambit, sunk beneath the waves. Oliver was the only survivor.

* * *

**5 years before . . .**

"Dad! Where's the lifeboat?" Oliver Queen yelled, his face dripping with the salty waters of the ocean as he and his father, Robert, desperately tried to hang onto the railing of the yacht.

Thunder rolled in the dark clouds above them and waves soared onto deck, washing a few of the crew members into the water.

"Over there! Run, Ollie!" Robert yelled, pointing to the right side of the ship.

Oliver pushed his drenched blonde hair back and made a run for it, slipping on the wet deck and sliding to the other side, hitting the bar table as the Queen's Gambit rocked to the right. He screamed and grabbed onto the marble corner of the bar counter as the yacht completely tilted to the right side. Oliver watched as one of the cooks was crushed by a cart full of alcohol and flew into the black waves. Oliver held on tight and saw his father fall toward him. He reached his arms out and grabbed Robert's forearms, saving his life before he took a plunge. The father and son stayed together, wedging themselves by pushing their leg against the front of the counter, enclosed in the small space reserved for the bartender as the ship began to turn over upside-down.

"We're going to flip over, son! But it will balance out. We just have to hold on! Do you hear me?" Robert told his son as lightning struck, highlighting the hundred foot waves approaching them.

"Dad..." Oliver said, tears streaming down his eyes.

"I can't."

"You have to. I need you to survive."

* * *

The Arrow kicked himself off of the A.C. unit and did a front-flip over a small maze of pipes before reaching the end of the outlet mall, seeing the Birmingham Hotel from across the busy street below and the destruction being caused. He narrowed his eyes and pulled out his bow, reaching behind his back and feeling along the back of the arrows, feeling the Braille writing that indicated what the arrow's purpose was. He found the one he needed and it slid quickly out of the quiver and into its proper place inside the bow. The Arrow prepared to fire and looked through the broken windows, the room brightly lit up on the inside. He saw at least thirty people inside, spotting a few men with guns wearing dark clothing. He found an empty space on the floor and let go of the string, letting the arrow fly through the rainy air and stick itself into the ground. He watched as two of the men saw it and aimed at it. Before they could do anything, a thick fog exploded into the air, scaring everyone inside as the fog blanketed everything inside the dining hall.

Arrow quickly grabbed another from the quiver and fired it quickly, for the top of the broken window the previous arrow had gone through. The arrow soared through the air and behind it, a long cable whipping through the air behind it. Arrow waited until the line went taut and stabbed the other end into the concrete roof, preparing to jump off and attach himself to the zipline. He quickly leapt off the roof and was soaked as the hurricane approaching made the rain spit everywhere violently.

"Where's the Justice League when you need them?" he muttered to himself as he was about to enter.

* * *

"He's here! Get ready, men!" Werner Zytle yelled across the room, turning the dials on his forearms, energy humming from the inside.

The fog filled the room quickly and the innocents scrambled about, running through each other and knocking over tables and chairs. Werner stood above them all, on top of a dining table and high enough to escape the fog. He gave a small smile and flipped his large black cloak outwards, the heavy material flapping about, small swirls of green and yellow weaved inside the fabric. He heard a sharp snap and a zip, tensing his chest up as a large crash was heard and he saw a dark, hooded figure. He jumped off of the table and laughed loudly.

"Hello, green archer. I've waited a long time for this!" Werner said, clapping his hands as people screamed, passing by him in fear.

The Arrow didn't reply immediately, pulling out his bow and loading an arrow into the string.

"Who are you and why do you want me?" Arrow asked, his head low as the fog overtook the both of them.

Werner flashed another big smile, his big, white teeth showing across his greying goatee. He was tall, the collar on the cloak making him look around 6'5, he had a skinny build but made up for it with the bulky contraptions across his arms. Arrow raised an eyebrow and pulled the string back as far as he could.

"I am Count Zytle. Heard of me?" he said.

"No. And I wish I had never heard of that accent either." Arrow said quickly, letting go of the string and letting the arrow hit him in the lower leg.

Werner screamed in pain and fell back, slamming onto the ground and holding the arrow secure in his leg. Arrow turned around, right before one of Werner's men fired a strain of bullets in his direction. He jumped on the table in front of him and executed a back-flip, avoiding the bullets and swiftly pulling out another arrow. Arrow fired again and watched as the arrow flew into the left shoulder of the shooter, making him fall to the ground before he could fire his rifle again. He ran at the men inside the fog, smacking the leader in the throat with his bow and kicking him in the stomach as hard as he could. He avoided a swing from the sweat-shirt wearing henchmen to his left and elbowed him in the jaw, the man falling hard against the carpet. Arrow turned to the Count and saw him turning the dials on his hands further than before.

"What's that about?" Arrow asked, pointing to the humming white energy pulsing inside the metal mechanisms.

"Prepare to feel the wrath..." the Count said loudly.

"The wrath of what?" Arrow asked, preparing another arrow.

"Vertigo!"

After that final word, from two small pipes under his palms, Werner fired two blast of pure sound energy. The blasts sent Arrow across the dining room and onto another table, glasses busting under his back. Arrow groaned in pain and rolled off of the table, flipping it over. He shook bits of glass from his hood and stood up, staring up at the skylight and hearing a humongous clap of thunder. He looked back at the Count and sighed in annoyance.

"This is gonna be interesting."


	4. Island

"Felicity, what was that?" Diggle asked, seeing the biometric readings on Oliver's suit going haywire.

"I'm not sure. He just got hit with something bad."

"Oliver! What happened?" Diggle yelled into the microphone on the desk.

* * *

"Ah! Got hit with a... sound wave, I think." Arrow said as he crawled across the floor, the table behind him being blown away by another blast of Vertigo's waves.

He stood up and ran across the room, grabbing a plate and flinging it at Vertigo's face. Vertigo saw it and held his hands out, shattering the china violently. Arrow hopped over another table and grabbed an old man in a ripped tux as Vertigo blasted their area with the waves. He walked toward them, the devices humming loudly and his cloak fluttering behind him. Arrow tossed the guy into the wall and pulled out another arrow as two of Vertigo's men came for him. He let go of the string and watched the arrowhead fling into his left arm. The man fired his SMG at him and the Arrow ducked, rolling across the ground and hearing thunder pound through the air again. He spun around on the ground and faced Vertigo who punched him in the face, guided by a sharp sound blast.

"A sound wave?" he heard Felicity ask.

Arrow screamed and was helpless as he soared across the room, hitting the window to the right. It cracked against his weight and the metal frame fell as the glass barely held up. He caught himself before he hit the ground and watched as rain poured in quickly. He caught his breath and prepared another arrow before Vertigo laughed loudly and lightning flashed behind him.

"That's so cliche." Arrow muttered to himself.

"What?" Felicity asked, confusion shining through the microphone.

"Nothing. Just fighting against Count Chocula here." Arrow replied loudly.

Vertigo looked at him with anger and screamed, preparing to fire another blast.

"You dare mock my name and my country?"

"No," Arrow said, quickly drawing another arrow and shooting it into his knee.

"I'm just insulting that hideous cloak."

Blood shot out from the knee wound when Vertigo took it out and he screamed in pain, running at Arrow and kicking him in the chest before firing another blast. The smaller blast of sound just knocked him off of his feet but it was enough to throw his balance off. He hit the ground hard and looked up, receiving a kick to the face from the Count. Arrow knocked him in the arm with his bow and pushed himself up with his legs, standing up once again. He saw another Vertigo goon looking at him and aiming his SMG at him. He executed a side-flip and flung his bow around, deflecting a bullet from the man's gunfire. He leaped at the man and tackled him to the ground, exchanging punches and knee thrusts as they rolled around.

"Stop moving!" Vertigo yelled, trying to aim his hands at the vigilante.

Arrow punched the man in his face, a bloody molar flying out as he was too late, hearing the energy inside Vertigo's wrist devices warm up and fire another blast. The blast sent the both of them through the air and straight through another window, glass and rain showering them as they flew to the ground, fifty feet below. Arrow spun around, seeing the dining room of the Birmingham shrinking from view as he headed toward his death. Mixed with the rain, bad guys, fear, and blood covering his body, Oliver's mind flashed back to the hellish island he had been trapped on for five years.

* * *

**5 years before . . .**

"Run, Oliver! Don't stop!" Robert Queen yelled to his son as they ran through the jungles of the lone island they had come across after the wreck of the Queen's Gambit.

Behind the two of them were three native men armed with AK-47s and armored plating across their chest. Oliver's bangs flew in his eyes and he flung sweat from his head as he nearly collided with a tree as they ran down the steep hill. He looked behind him and saw Robert with a chest wound, blood seeping out through his muddy undershirt. Oliver stopped running for a moment and grabbed onto his father's arm, jerking him along as the armed men fired a few shots into the jungle. Oliver flinched when the tree trunk splintered into tiny pieces and heard bullets zipping across his head.

"What are we going to do?" Oliver asked, his voice breaking in fear.

"We need shelter. And we need to take these men out!" Robert replied, jumping across a log in his path and nearly falling over.

"Out? Like kill them? I can't kill anyone, Dad! I won't!" Oliver said suddenly, screaming as a wave of bullets came over them.

Robert shouted in pain as another bullet hit him in his upper right thigh. He fell to the ground and rolled down the hill, coming across Oliver's feet and bringing him down with him. The two of them flew down the hill, collecting dirt and leaves in their torn clothes as they tried to avoid gunfire and more pain. Oliver grabbed a hold of the ground beneath him and watched as gravity kept pulling him down the hill, dirt and rocks scraping his fingers as he tried to slow himself down. He looked at his father who was near unconscious from the savage wounds all across his body. The two of them were completely helpless as the armed men above saw them and continued to fire at them from hundreds of feet away. Oliver saw dirt fly up in his face as more bullets whizzed by him and he began to cry.

"Dad!" he yelled, seeing that the hill turned into a cliff within a few hundred feet. He stretched himself out and ignored the pain from the various twigs and rocks that stabbed into his chest and tried to grab his father's arm.

"Oliver! I need to tell you something!" Robert replied, reaching out and grabbing his son's hand.

The two of them continued to slide down the leaf-covered hill, the both of them finally hearing the roaring of the waves that approached them. Oliver grabbed onto the ground and sank his fingers into the mud with all his strength, screaming from the pain as his father did the same with his other hand. They met each other's eyes and slammed their bodies hard into the ground, slowing them down to the point where they could maneuver themselves on the slope. Oliver and Robert both grabbed onto a clearing of tree in front of them, slamming into the trunks hard. Oliver felt a sharp crack in his right leg and held in his pain, wanting to scream out in agony. Robert nearly slipped off of the trunk and panicked, blood running down his wounds and making his hands slippery. They took a deep breath and looked below, seeing the ten foot ridge that trailed off into the small cove below.

"What- what do you need to tell me?" Oliver asked, dazed and in pain.

"This is all my fault, Ollie. All of it." his father replied, shaking his head and leaning it against the tree trunk, his arms wrapped tightly around it.

"What is? Dad, you're scaring me."

"Those men up there? They were sent to kill us. The Queen's Gambit didn't sink by accident. There was a stowaway. An assassin posing as one of the cooks. He blew out the engine and drove us out into the storm. A suicide mission. I killed him before I could ask him more questions. Like... like who exactly did this." Robert explained.

"I don't understand. Who would want to kill us? What have we done? Queen Industries has done nothing but help people! Everyone knows that!" Oliver said, knowing he was in denial.

Robert shook his head again and laughed softly. Oliver backed up, readjusted himself in the tree as he saw blood continue to pour out through the bullet wounds on Robert. He reached out for his father's hand and grabbed it, beginning to cry. He looked up, seeing his father's face losing color and his eyelids falling over his eyes. He shook Robert's hand hard and smacked it, trying to wake him up.

"Dad. What have you done?" he asked with hesitance.

"I've been a horrible man, Ollie. I've hurt Star City so much. You can never ascend to where we are now without making enemies. Unfortunately, I didn't know these people were my enemies until recently. You need to get back there. It's too late for me." Robert said with a slurred voice as his grip became loose.

"Dad..."

"You need to survive, son. For me. For yourself. For everyone who is going to be hurt in Star." Robert continued, a tear coming from his eye as he bowed his head.

Before Oliver could speak again, he heard rustling and screaming over the roaring of the sea waves crashing into the rocky cove beneath them. He looked up at the slope and ducked as more gunfire hit the bark of the trees and two more bullets hit Robert in his left side. He jerked in pain and Oliver tried to grab for his shoulders before a bullet hit him in his upper right arm. Blood splattered onto the tree and wood splinters cut them along their face and arms. More bullets flew at them and blood started gargling up from Robert's mouth and he coughed loudly, his body slipping being wedged inside the tree branches.

"Dad! No!" Oliver screamed, grabbing both of his father's arms as he was left hanging from death.

Robert grunted and jerked to the right, locking eyes with his son again.

"Survive, Ollie. The city is going to need you. To pay for my sins. I'm so sorry." Robert said before letting go and falling into the crushing waves below as more bullets came their way.

"No!" Oliver screamed, tears falling down his eyes as the branches holding him broke apart and he fell too, soaring into the salty spray of the cove.


	5. Survive

Flying through the rainy night sky of Star City and seeing the lightning flash above him, Arrow pulled out a special arrow from his quiver and fired it quickly. Seconds from splatting into the pavement like Vertigo's unlucky henchmen behind him, the arrow flew through the air and hit the side of the wall, the brick splitting apart. He pressed a button on the right side of the bow and felt his arms jerk forward, saving his life as he swung through the air and shot upward. Rain flew in his face and soaked his leather outfit as he flew back up to the window, feeling anger and wanting to stop the psychopath above him.

"Felicity! I got a problem here!" he said through the mike as he zoomed up.

"What's going on? Who is he?" she replied.

"Werner Zytle. Says he's a count. He's definitely foreign. Look for small European countries. Find out everything you can about him." he replied before released the arrow from the string and front-flipping inside the dining room, kicking another henchmen in the back and grabbing his SMG as it flew high in the air.

Vertigo turned around and smiled, laughing while giving a round of applause to the vigilante.

"I'll see what I can find. Keep him busy." Felicity replied.

Arrow narrowed his eyes through the war paint across them and he pulled out two arrows as the rest of Vertigo's men ran at him. Arrow charged at them from the opposite direction and leapt at the last moment, punching one of them in the throat while shooting another in the foot with the SMG. He broke the gun in half and used the back portion to whack the hurt henchmen across the temple, knocking him in the temple. He flipped over the two men in front of him and bent down low, his legs spread out as he let the arrows loose, letting them fly into their knees. They screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Arrow used his own knee to knock one of them out and put the other in a headlock, spinning around as he stood up, using him as a shield when Vertigo released another sound blast. It knocked the man in the chest and sent both of them flying behind the bar counter. Liquor bottles were smashed and the alcohol poured all over the two of them. The henchmen tried to throw a punch when Arrow threw him off but missed, his fist hitting a half-broken bottle of whiskey, the glass shards stabbing his knuckles. Arrow headbutted him and slammed his body into the counter, cracking the marble corner off.

"Stand still!" Vertigo muttered, firing another blast as Arrow flipped over the counter.

Bits of glass flew off and Arrow jumped high, landing near the Count. He groaned in pain from the previous blasts and saw that he didn't pose a threat any longer. It seemed like he wanted a discussion.

"Why... why are you doing this?" Arrow asked, swiftly pulling another arrow from the quiver.

"Happy one year, Green Arrow." Vertigo said with a smile.

"How do you know? And you didn't answer my question."

"I've been following up on you... Oliver Queen."

Arrow's eyes widened and he pulled back tighter on the arrow.

* * *

"How in the hell...?" Diggle said, hearing Vertigo through the mike as Felicity stopped her researched of the European Count.

Felicity took off her glasses and paused for a moment. She looked at Diggle and he shook his head, moving to the gun case beside the empty glass case where Oliver's suit usually resided off-duty. He entered the 4-digit code and opened the door, grabbing the pistol and two extra magazines. He loaded one inside and stuffed the gun into his pocket. Felicity cleared her throat and looked at him with fear.

"John. What are you going to do?" she asked.

"He needs help in there. This Count? Whoever he is? He knows Oliver and is doing this for a personal reason. We need to find out why before he ruins everything we've accomplished." Diggle replied, leaving the secret HQ and leaving Felicity to herself.

She looked back at the screen and saw the newspaper clipping of Werner Zytle, the former leader of Vlatava, a small country in Eastern Europe. The country had recently been bombed by the U.S. Military in an attempt to uncover terrorist activity similar to the 'event' in Gotham that had come to an end two months earlier. She scrolled down the page and saw that Zytle had gone rogue, vanishing from his placement as the leader of Vlatava, leaving the population to fend for themselves.

"How do you know who I am? There's noth-." Arrow began before Vertigo laughed loudly again and he clicked his tongue.

"It wasn't very hard. You know what you've done to my country." Vertigo said through grit teeth.

* * *

"Your country? I don't even have a clue who you are. Why all of this to get my attention? Why risk people getting hurt or killed?" Arrow asked, his arm shaking from the force of holding the bow back.

"Vlatava, Mr. Queen! Using your advanced missile guidance system, your military blew my country to pieces. Killed 48 women and children. No explanation. After the earthquake in Gotham, all your country does now is take control. Militarize _everything_ and remove freedoms of the people. We did nothing wrong to you! Why give your inventions to them. Hm?" Vertigo said, tears almost falling from his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm not involved. I would never willingly let others die. Senseless murder isn't something I aspire to." Arrow replied.

Vertigo nodded his head and became silent before humming a joyful tune. As Arrow wondered what was happening, Vertigo headbutted him hard and fired a large blast at his chest, knocking the bow and arrow from his hand and sending him into an horderves cart. He fought the pain in his stomach as Vertigo continued to fire concentrated blasts at him. He dodged the cart as it flew across the air and exploded when it hit the wall behind the vigilante. Arrow slid underneath a table and watched as a wooden chair to his left was completely blasted apart, blowing off the tablecloth and revealing him. Vertigo screamed loudly and fired two simultaneous blasts at him. Arrow covered his face and pushed the table into the air before jumping to the next, watching the table split into several pieces.

"Oliver! His country was wrongly accused of terrorist activity. That's why he's doing this!" Felicity as Arrow ran across the room.

"Search for any connections between Queen Industries and missile guidance systems. Find a buyer's listing!" he replied, screaming over the sound of the waves the Count created.

"A connection? Here is two!" the Count yelled, firing two more blasts of sound.

Arrow ran at him and kicked his forearms, sending the devices upward as they fired. The blasts hit the glass roof above them and shattered apart of it, heavy rain immediately falling through. Arrow kicked Vertigo in the stomach and grabbed his bow, smacking him across the face when he got back up. He looked down at the Count and flipped his robe from his face, met with another sound blast. He dodged it and watched as the rain created a trail of the sound and where it went. The blast hit another part of the glass ceiling and more rain poured through as Arrow looked up and saw that the hurricane was now completely over them.

"Queen Industries wouldn't make something like that. That's not the type of business we run." Arrow said, grabbing Vertigo by his collar and confronting him.

"Heh. You are a spoiled, little boy in a playsuit. You still know nothing about what your family's done." Vertigo laughed.

"I found something! A general recently had a board meeting at QI. You weren't there because you were resting from the night before's run-in with those hackers. It was four months ago. Plans were approved to use a prototype guidance system for military use." Felicity said loudly.

"Dammit..." Arrow muttered to himself.

"You will pay for what you did to me. Me and my family." the Count spat.

He tried to fire another blast and missed, hitting the glass ceiling in the right spot and shattering most of it, meters of glass falling down on them as they shielded themselves with their extravagant clothing. They were completely soaked by the storm that now surrounded them and in his eyes, Arrow saw the look of a man who had lost it all, just like himself on the island of Lian Yu. He watched as Vertigo fired everything he could. He could now see the trails of the sound blasts through the rain and dodged them completely. He pulled out another long arrow and fired it, watching in anger as Vertigo snapped in half with his blasts. Vertigo ran at him and wiped rain from his face as Arrow stood and waited. When the Count reached him, Arrow dodged his first punch and returned with a kick to his right leg, sending him to his knees. Vertigo fired a blast that sent Arrow high into the air, crashing back down into the crushed bits of glass. He rolled over before Vertigo could stomp him in the head with his heavy boots and grabbed his foot, sending him back-first into the floor. Arrow stood up and flipped his hood back, not hiding who he was any longer.

"Werner! I swear I have nothing to do with this. If you stop now, you can give me a chance to find out who did this!" Oliver yelled over the roaring power of the wind and rain of the hurricane swirling around Star City.

"This has everything to do with you, Mr. Queen. You don't know what I lost. What I will never get back! You don't know!" Vertigo cried in reply.

"I do! Believe me. But you can't let it overcome you!"

Vertigo began to cry on the ground and stood up, the energy still humming inside his gloves. Oliver stood in front of him with his hands up, throwing his bow down and trying to call a truce. Rain poured down their faces and lightning kept blinding them as the wind kept getting worse. Before Oliver could say anything else, he saw his trusted friend, John Diggle bust through the dining room door, his gun aimed at the Count. His leather jacket was slick with rain and it ran over his pistol, increasing the tension with his finger on the trigger.

"Freeze! You're not causing anymore trouble tonight, Count!" Diggle yelled.

"No, Dig! Stop! He won't hurt anyone else!" Oliver yelled, trying to get the two men's attention. Werner looked at Diggle, turning around and twisting the dial on his gloves. Diggle shook his pistol in the air and warned him to stop once again.

"I will shoot you where you stand if you do not stop. I'm giving you to the count of three. One... Two..." Diggle screamed as the rain stung their skin.

"Diggle! Stop!" Oliver yelled, getting their attention.

Diggle shook his head and continued to aim his gun at the Count, not trusting whatever he was going to do next. He uncocked the pistol and held it with two hands below is waistline, trying his best to trust that Oliver would do the right thing. Vertigo turned back to Oliver and looked up to the sky, seeing the purple clouds of destruction above them. He began to laugh in sadness and looked at Oliver with regret.

"How can I move on? What can I do?" he asked like a small child pleading for love.

"Survive. It's the only thing we can do." Oliver replied softly so only the Count could hear him.

"I... I don't know if I have the strength." Vertigo said, shaking his head and sneakily turning up one of the dials on the glove.

Oliver watched Diggle raise his pistol once more and before the troubled man could do anything else, Oliver stepped on the bottom of the bow at his feet, flipping it up into his hand and whacking it across the Count's face, knocking him out once and for all. He hit the ground, water splashing up from the impact and his gloves shorting out because of the submersion. Oliver took a deep breath and looked down at Vertigo.

"You may not have the strength..." he said quietly to him.

"But I have enough for us all."

* * *

**two hours later . . .**

"He'll go to Belle Reve Prison. His connections are too well-placed for any other prison." Felicty told Oliver as he sat on the rooftop of a water tower in the slums of Queens.

"Good. He's where he belongs." Oliver said.

"Are you okay with him knowing who you are?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"He won't talk. He doesn't have a reason to. He's a troubled leader who lost his way. I can't fault him for that. But there's one thing that's clear."

"What's that?"

"My father... on the island... he told me that I would have to pay for his sins. It's now been a year since I started all this and you know what I've found out?" Oliver said.

Felicity waited for his answer.

"This whole crusade is bigger than my father. It's bigger than me. It's bigger than any of us."

"Yep. We've got a good thing going. Although I could deal without the sci-fi wepaons and cliched European counts looking for revenge. But yes... I agree." Felicity said with a bit of a smile.

"Alright, Ms. Smoak. What else has this city got?" Oliver asked with a smile.

He pulled the hood back over his head and waited to hear for his city's next call.

**THE END . . .**

* * *

**5 years before . . .**

On the rocky surface of the cove, Oliver Queen awoke from his spill from the cliff and looked around, seeing that he was surrounded by water. He shook his head and swam through the foam of seawater that constantly crashed back into him. He crawled onto the rock and took a deep breath, seeing no sign of his father. He remembered the words uttered to him and felt an obligation to keep his word. He needed to find out what was wrong in Star City and who had done this to them. It was his destiny. He couldn't give up. Not with so much to lose.

_Survive..._

Through his pain and overall exhaustion, he stood up and saw the long climb he had back to the top of the slope. He looked at the ground, about to pray for God to keep him safe, flicking one eye open and seeing a strange-looking rock.

_Survive..._

He picked it up and felt the jagged edges at the ends. It almost looked like the head of an arrow.


End file.
